In 2004, Japanese periodical TheNikkei Weekly printed former Fed chairman Paul Volcker's fascinating recollection of a global currency intervention led by the United States in February 1973. At the time, Volcker served as undersecretary of the Treasury for international monetary affairs. Volcker recalls:

That day the U.S. announced that the dollar would be devalued by 10 percent. By switching the yen to a floating exchange rate, the Japanese currency appreciated, and a sufficient realignment in exchange rates was realized. Joint intervention in gold sales to prevent a steep rise in the price of gold, however, was not undertaken. That was a mistake.

The immediate aftermath was in complete contradiction to prior recent episodes of intervention and what anyone would have expected. Instead of spurring a further gold price rally on the basis that it was one of the few remaining safe haven "currencies" we saw a 50 usd collapse in minutes. The source of this flow seems hard to pin down with some speculating over whether "authorities" were concerned about the signals of an accelerating gold price and its impact on other fragile markets.

PC Gold Ramps up Major Shallow Drill Program on the Core Mine Trend; up to 22,000 Metres and 105 Holes Planned

Ottawa, Ontario – September 15, 2011 - PC Gold Inc. (TSX: PKL) is pleased to report that a major shallow drilling program is now underway at Pickle Crow, targeting the near surface (0-150 metres) areas of a thick unit of banded iron formation (the “No. 1 BIF”) which cuts through the historical workings, as well as high grade cross-cutting structures such as the historically top-producing No. 1 and No. 5 veins. Up to 22,000 metres of drilling is anticipated, for completion by the end of November"

The best buying opportunity might be when most everyone else has given up. I still see gold as only insurance with a 10% allocation, but if it gets beat more in the next 6 months, I plan to move towards 20%.